Poisoning the Starbucks Well

A chemist tried to swap orange juice bottles with containers filled with rubbing alcohol at a coffee shop in San Jose, Calif.; Republicans’ insistence on hampering immigration reform thanks to a provision concerning gay immigrants is utter stupidity; meanwhile, people with health insurance are going bankrupt thanks to medical costs, but Obamacare isn’t the answer. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

Arrest in Attempted Starbucks Poisoning A trained chemist put a “lethal quantity” of rubbing alcohol in orange juice bottles that she tried to sneak into a display case at a Starbucks coffee shop in San Jose, police said.

Hillel Neuer: Liar. Mona Seif: Hero. Mona Seif is one of the few human rights activists in Egypt (or anywhere) whom almost everybody likes.

Occupiers Keep Fighting for LA Homeowners Upset with Wells Fargo’s foreclosure practices, protesters held a demonstration on May Day that briefly shut down one of the bank’s branches in downtown Los Angeles.

Sports Reject Healthy Living Ad Series A father has been blocked by the AFL and Cricket Australia from taking out advertisements promoting a healthy lifestyle, with the sporting authorities saying it would conflict with their sponsorships from alcohol and food companies.

A Rough Guide to Obama’s Mexico Visit Obama had last visited Mexico during the G-20 summit in Los Cabos last June.

U.S. Punishes India for Placing Public Health Before Corporate Profits The U.S. Trade Report released continues to hold India in Priority Watch Status because India is not caving in to pressure from pharmaceutical corporations who want to sell high-priced patented medications in India.

The Austerity Delusion Unable to take constructive action toward any common end, the U.S. Congress has recently been reduced to playing an ongoing game of chicken with the American economy.

Cities in New York Just Got a Big Stick in the Fracking Fight For a while, it looked like we were scraping the bottom of Earth’s barrel of fossil fuels.

Boston and Beyond There are few in Boston who were not touched in some way by the marathon bombings on April 15 and the tense week that followed.

Immigration Reform and the GOP’s Anti-Gay Suicide Mission Blocking immigration reform because of a provision to let gay Americans sponsor their partners’ green cards is not only wrong, it’s just plain stupid, writes Jonathan Rauch.

Google, Twitter, Facebook and the New Global Battle Over the Future of Free Speech A year ago this month, Stanford Law School hosted a little-noticed meeting that may help decide the future of free speech online.

Why Are People with Health Insurance Going Bankrupt? Obama care will not put an end to medical bankruptcies – 80% of people going bankrupt due to healthcare costs had insurance.